Tag Archives: status

The Foreign Office turned down a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant Julian Assange diplomatic status, amid reports the WikiLeaks founder may have received citizenship from the Andean country. Mr Assange, 46, has been living in the London embassy of the south American country for five-and-a-half years after being granted political asylum as he fought sex-related claims in Sweden. Quito said the country was seeking mediation to resolve the impasse. Following reports in Ecuadorean media that Mr Assange may have received citizenship, he posted a picture of himself on Twitter wearing an Ecuadorian football shirt on Wednesday. An FCO spokesman said: "The Government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr Assange here in the UK. "The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter. pic.twitter.com/LB5jzQmJLb— Julian Assange ⌛ (@JulianAssange) January 10, 2018 "Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice." Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into allegations against Mr Assange, but he still faces arrest for breaching bail conditions if he steps outside the embassy. He also fears he will be extradited to the United States if he leaves the building and that there is a sealed indictment ordering his arrest. How long has Assange been in the Ecuadorian embassy? Reuters found an entry for "Julian Paul Assange" in Ecuador's Civil Registry, which only includes Ecuadorean citizens. A spokeswoman for the registry declined to comment when asked if Mr Assange had been granted citizenship. Ecuador's foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said: "No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the cooperation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out." A United Nations panel concluded in 2016 that Mr Assange was under arbitrary detention. Profile | Julian Assange A statement by Mr Assange's legal team said: "The UN ruling, issued almost two years ago, is crystal clear in its language. Mr Assange is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained by the UK authorities and must be released. "The UK should not permit itself to be intimidated by the Trump administration's public threats to 'take down' Mr Assange."

President Donald Trump has again threatened the future status of a program that allowed children brought illegally to the United States to remain here, demanding he get a bigger border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has been elevated to the same political league as Mao Tse-tung as China’s Communist Party enshrined his ideology into the constitution. The move is being seen as a significant break with the past in China, which is said to be ruled by collective responsibility and consensus among top leaders since Mao’s death in 1976. With the party’s support firmly behind him, Mr Xi will now be emboldened to continue his strong style of authoritarian rule at home and muscular foreign policy abroad. There is growing speculation that Mr Xi is seeking to break with precedent and extend his power beyond two five-year terms. Any attempt to do so would now be made easier, given Mr Xi’s pre-eminent position in the constitution. Only Mao, who is considered the founding father of modern China, had his ideology enshrined into the party constitution when he was still alive. Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s reforms, received the honour after he died. Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) raises his hand to vote for the reports with China's former presidents Jiang Zemin (R) and Hu Jintao (L) at the closing of the 19th Communist Party Congress Credit: GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images Other leaders Hu Jintao and Zhang Zemin also had their guiding thoughts included into the constitution, but without their names attached and after they served as president. “This is Xi’s era – and it's an era he has created for himself,” said well-known Beijing-based political commentator Zhang Lifan. "Mao had to wait 24 years until he had his ideology included in the constitution," he added, referring to the period after the revolutionary leader seized power in 1949. "But for Xi it was only five.” How Xi Jinping is set to become more powerful than Trump 02:01 The party on Tuesday unanimously passed an amendment to include "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" as one of its guiding principles. It was agreed by a unanimous vote on the final day of the Communist Party’s congress, which was being held in Beijing’s cavernous Great Hall of the People. It gives greater powers to the ruling Communist Party, particularly with regards to China’s rapidly modernising military. Xi Jinping | The wisdom of Xi A report by Chinese news agency Xinhua said: “(It) also included Xi's military thinking and the Party's 'absolute' leadership over the armed forces." It also incorporated Mr Xi’s war on corruption and his signature foreign policy initiative, the Belt and Road initiative, an investment scheme which spans three continents. However, some experts raised challenges that Mr Xi would face in strengthening Communist Party rule over China during his second term. Delegates attending the closing of the 19th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Credit: GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images China has emerged as the world’s second biggest economy, but Beijing is struggling to pull millions out of poverty. The country has also produced a free-spending generation of wealthy urban middle classes whose lifestyles are distant from Communist ideology. “The challenge the party has of how it relates to people's daily lives remains,” said Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese Studies at King's College London and a former British diplomat in Beijing. Hostesses jump in the air on Tiananmen square during the closing session of the 19th Communist Party Congress in Beijing Credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images “We are seeing a parallel universe in China – an elite, somewhat self-enclosed festival in Beijing in a country largely indifferent to its ideology. “The real challenge for Mr Xi, now he has all this party power and ideological status, is how does he and his colleagues translate it into something that matters outside the grand walls of the Great Hall of the People.” Delegates leave the hall after the closing ceremony of the 19th National Congress Credit: EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG The congress’ final day also saw confirmation that Wang Qishan, Mr Xi’s graft buster, will not be on the new Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China’s cabinet, which is announced on Wednesday. Some had predicted that Mr Xi might bend the unwritten retirement rules for top officials to keep his key ally in the group, which is the apex of political power in China. Observers will be closely watching Wednesday’s unveiling of the new PSC to identify if Mr Xi fails to appoint any officials young enough to succeed him after 2022.

Questions about the U.S. media’s coverage of Hurricane Maria and about the American public’s understanding of the island territory have revived old conversations about Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States.

While breaking down Bannon’s “60 Minutes” interview, Noah noted how Bannon accused journalist Charlie Rose of pushing “leftist” propaganda. Rose had simply pointed out that everyone in the U.S. ― aside from Native Americans ― could be considered an immigrant. Noah then explained that his team had hired a professional genealogist to dig into the immigration history of Bannon’s ancestors.

By Sam Holmes and Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore said on Friday it had canceled the permanent residence status of a professor at a prominent postgraduate school whom it identified as a U.S. citizen, and accused him of being an agent of influence for a foreign country. The Ministry of Home Affairs said Huang Jing, a professor of U.S.-China relations at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, “knowingly interacted with intelligence organizations and agents of the foreign country” with the aim of bringing about a change in the direction of Singapore’s foreign policy.

LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia must clarify whether they have imposed movement restrictions on former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, saying the kingdom should end all arbitrary travel bans and detentions of Saudi citizens. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the HRW statement. Reuters reported last week that the former crown prince has been under house arrest since his overthrow in favor of the king's favorite son, Mohammed bin Salman, in June. Saudi authorities have denied the story. …

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The U.S. embassy in Belgrade said there's no need to grant diplomatic status to the Russian staff of the controversial facility in Serbia that some consider a spy base but that Moscow insists is a disaster relief center.